Crimped primers come from the military side of things – it helps to hold the primer in when headspace is deliberately loose or just got that way. Military ammo can get a rough ride and anything to hold it together – from crimps to tar bullet seals – helps.

But you find it in civvy ammo too – “NT” ammo, and just ammo.

The old primers push out, maybe reluctantly, then the new ones don’t want to go in. So you have to get the crimp out. But how? What’s the Best way?

Here are the ways I know of. Where you see “ihui”, it means “I Have Used It” – all else is gleaned from the web and talking to / observing fellow reloaders.

Reaming

Reaming – cutting metal away – has the slight disadvantage that the primer pocket itself – particularly with a strong ring crimp – may be distorted. Reaming out only the crimp ring will leave the pockets still distorted / undersized and somewhat difficult to put a primer in – but they will go in.

Reaming is also messy due to shavings and relatively slow compared to other methods, and may leave an imperfect entry zone for the primer (tool chatter, maybe a flat cut instead of a radius, and so on) or be cut off-centre (some tools, not all).

I have found reaming to be unsatisfactory on a progressive, where the primer / case alignment can be less than perfect, making the entry zone important.

scraping with a pen knife – ihui

slow and clumsy, but it works if you have only a few to do. If you rush, the cuts are rough.

cutting with a chucked deburring tool- ihui

faster and easy, and you already have a deburring tool.

looks like this

results like this

But clumsy use can create this:

cutting with a Hornady Primer Pocket Reamer- ihui

The “Best” of the common cutting methods – because it’s cheap, effective, fast, and has a depth-stop. Having said that, it still cuts a flat instead of a rounded entry area, which is less than ideal for slipping the primer in. Sloppy use of the cutter – working at an angle – will destroy the brass. I’ve found it best to use by hand.

Cutting with the Wilson Primer Pocket Reamer

The high-end of cutters, like everything else Wilson makes this is a precision tool, and you must use the Wilson trimming system to make this work. This isn’t ihui, but I do use the Wilson trimming system (my pick for precision trimming). This cuts the less-desired flat entry area, but will uniform severely distorted pocket sides.

Looks like this:

In the Wilson tool:

Swaging

Swaging re-forms the entire pocket and produces the easiest-to-insert primer experience – all of the listed swagers create the desired rounded entry area. The downside is some setup time: each brand of brass is slightly different dimensionally, and the tooling should be setup for a given brand for best results. Mixed brass can stop the process, bend something, or just result in a less-than-perfect removal.

CH4D Primer Pocket Crimp Swager Tool – ihui

The “Best” of the swaging tools – it is the least expensive swaging method that I know of, and the fastest – this tool works with any standard reloading press with a ram and 7/8×14 threads (it will also work in the Forster Co-Ax with its shell holder adaptor plate). It holds the case by the rim in your own shell holder – some have reported tearing rims (certainly due to setup issues) but I find it works well, having swaged both commercial and military cases. My example is a little rough in the non-critical areas (such as the body threads), but smooth enough where it counts – the swaging punch. For the price, I’m not going to complain about imperfect finish when the fit is fine.

Here’s why it’s fast: slip the case in, move the press handle a few inches until the ram tops out, pull the handle back a bit, slip the case out and do it again. Minimal handle movement, and everyone is well-practised at moving cases in and out of shell holders.

CH4D swager punch

CH4D Swager Die Body with Shell Holder

CH4D Swager Punch Showing Through Shell Holder

Swaged Military Brass – CH4D

RCBS Primer Pocket Swager Combo – ihui

This tool works with any standard reloading press with a 1″ or smaller ram and 7/8×14 threads. It pushes the case over a rod, which stops the case while the swager nipple continues up to do its job. There’s a cup that sits over the ram, called the “case stripper”, pushing the finished case off of the swager on the ram downstroke. Without using the cup you can still wiggle the case off of the swager, but even with a touch of lube on the swager every few cases this is fussy and slow. With the cup, cases pop off easily with the right motion. Setup is important on this swager: too tight and the rod bends (RCBS will replace it, but then you wait). I find this system a bit awkward – getting the case over the rod with the rod being invisible inside of the die is fiddle work. Might be easier if you swage before sizing, so that the neck dimension is more generous.

Swaged with RCBS

Dillon Super Swage 600 – ihui

The crème de la crème of off-press crimp removal, this standalone tool is fast (maybe twice as fast as the RCBS), works well, and takes up little space. It is expensive, but bulk reloaders swear by it. Setup is less critical as you have less leverage than the RCBS system. Pop the brass over the rod, slip down, work the handle, flip and, remove brass, then rinse and repeat. The rod is pointed, which has pros and cons: easier to slip the brass over, but pushes directly on the flash hole instead of bridging it as in the RCBS system (which has a concave end) – one could imagine burrs being pressed across the flash hole, and the concave RCBS rod supports the head on the thickest part of the case.

Swaged with Dillon

Make sure your brass is lined-up properly before cranking the handle:

Dillon 1050 Super progressive press – ihui

On-press crimp removal – the fastest possible method. Since every pocket is uniformed as the brass travels around the press, you never again worry about a crimped pocket getting mixed in and causing a stoppage. If your only problem is removing pocket crimps this is an overkill solution – but if you were considering this near-industrial press anyway, it’s a great benefit. I have never owned one, but have used one – smooth and powerful. Setup matters, because the brass is positioned against an inserted rod as with the RCBS system.

There you have it – there are many ways to skin this cat, so pick the one that works for you.

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45 Responses to “Get the Crimp Out! The Best Way(s) to Decrimp Primer Pockets”

Thank you very much for the reviews,as a new reloader im putting together the best equipment i can afford,the dillion seems to me to be the best for fast ,reliable crimp removal,costs more but ithink in the long run it will be my choice.Thanks agian big help to newbie,mike

1. How are primer pocket crimps formed? 2. What does the tool that forms them look like? 3. How does said crimping tool work? 4. How many different variations of crimping styles are there ( three stake, four stake, circle, epoxy; Is that all?) 5. What happens to all that brass that gets crimped after it’s been reloaded four times?

Don, thanks for writing. From the post (just under the picture of three types of pocket), ” Where you see “ihui”, it means “I Have Used It” – all else is gleaned from the web and talking to / observing fellow reloaders.”

Great article. This is exactly the information I have been trying to find on reaming pockets. Since I am just starting to reload and buying used brass at my local gun shop, the comparison pictures of the different shell casings helps a lot. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Great article. Echo your comments on the RCBS setup’s sensitivity to brass types/variations. I was swaging brass for a friend of mine and unbeknownst to me he had IMI brass mixed in with Lake City. Swager was set for Lake City, rod in swager bent at the first IMI case I hit. Grrrrr…… I’m buying the Dillon tool.

Excellent research and presentation. I found it because I sized my crimped 5.56 before using my RCBS swaging combo. Big mistake. The neck is now too small for the swaging rod. Won’t do that again. Tried belling the case but that didn’ t work. Was trimming the brass with a Dillon case trimmer which also sizes as it trims. Thanks!

PS the pic regarding “cutting with a chucked deburring tool” saves me from waiting to buy another decrimping tool. Now I know what that little rod sticking out the end is for…often wondered about it… Again, thank you!

Thanks for putting this info out. I have a Hornady LNL AP & there are 2 separate swage setups for it. One for 556 & then you have to buy another for 762. These products look like an after thought. They don’t make one for 9mm. That Dillon 1050B press is awesome, but maybe next time. I will probably end up with the CH4D swager.

Linked below is a slick modification for the Dillon Super Swage 600 that Dillon should adapt & call it version 2.0!

I used the CH tool back in the early ’80s and didn’t like it for it has insurmountable technical issues. On most cases, by the time you apply enough pressure to remove the crimp, you would have most likely bent the rim enough to destroy it. Happened too many times. Got rid of it and purchased the RCBS tool that mounted in the press. Worked every time as you developed a “feel” for how far you needed to go as you NEVER set it up to “cam over” as it had too much leverage at that point. No more lost cases.

I have used the CH tool when I was young and cheap. In many instances after you apply enough pressure to remove the crimp (even if it wasn’t enough) the rim was bent some subtly but enough to screw up chambering. I ditched that and purchased the RCBS and apart from smoothing up the swags end, works perfectly with no damaged cases. It’s true that sometimes .223 brass can slow things a bit but done once and you are done.

Thanks for the info. I love Dillon products, but thought I might save a few bucks and go with the RCBS this time. I think I’ll stick with the Dillon Super Swage 600. You did an excellent job on this, thanks again.

I bought the Dillon swedger and did about 2000 and when I was finished I would say about 25% of the cases where needing to be redone again. This was after spilling powder and making a mess of my XL650. Bottom line is I called Dillon and they took me through the entire process 3 different times and the mandrel would distort the neck or the pocket. I would NOT get the Dillon, but everything else Dillon makes is great. This was just my experience. I ended up using the Hornaday swedger bit on drill press and it worked like magic.